


a war inside of me

by hapakitsune



Category: The Social Network (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-23
Updated: 2012-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-29 20:43:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3909994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hapakitsune/pseuds/hapakitsune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mark meets Eduarda at an AEPi event and initially thinks she's a pledge prank.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a war inside of me

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know. This is awkward, virginal nerd girl!Eduardo for [](http://ellot.dreamwidth.org/profile)[ellot](http://ellot.dreamwidth.org/)'s holiday fic/birthday and uhhh I don't even know I wrote this in like the last two days and I basically don't know what the hell it's about. Enjoy?

"James Bond night," Mark scoffed to Chris, sipping at the martini he had reluctantly taken from the catering table. "Like anyone here could be James Bond."

"Should I even be here?" Chris asked, looking around and fidgeting with his bow-tie. "Isn't this a rush event?"

"You are not leaving me here alone with Dustin," Mark said, glaring at him. "He's – _way_ too into this."

They both looked over at Dustin, who was dancing with an exceptionally good-looking girl with shiny black hair and knee-high boots. "Well," Chris said. "It seems to be working for him."

"Not so much for you," Mark said snidely, then immediately regretted it when Chris gave him a dirty look.

"We're at a _frat_ party," Chris pointed out. "I was never going to do that well here." He shook his drink experimentally and added, "I'm going to go get something to eat."

"Okay," Mark said, watching as Chris went over to the table and was immediately accosted by a blonde girl in a red dress. Mark slumped against the wall and looked contemplatively at the hideously green cocktail in his hand. He had just made up his mind to go exchange it for a beer, if he could, when a voice said, "Where's your costume?"

He looked up, startled, and saw a gorgeous dark-haired girl in a slinky black dress leaning against the wall next to him. Her lips were painted very red and curved up in a small, smirking smile. Mark swallowed and tried not to look further, but his gaze dropped lower and caught on the golden key pinned to the top of her dress. He knew it had to be some sort of sorority thing, but he had no idea which one.

"What are you doing here?" he asked abruptly. "Don't you have your own parties in –" He gestured vaguely towards the pin.

She looked down at it and laughed. "Kappa Kappa Gamma," she said, making a face. "And yeah, we do, but – Harvard doesn't have any Jewish sororities and I think my mãe has her heart set on me marrying a Jewish boy."

"You don't look very Jewish," Mark said, because she didn't. She was tan, her hair was sleek and shiny, and she just looked very – exotic.

"My mãe is Brazilian," she said with a grin. "Hang on – I seem to be answering all of your questions and you haven't even answered mine yet."

"Your what?" Mark asked, playing dumb.

"Oh please," she said. "You know what I'm talking about."

Mark sighed loudly. "These parties are lame enough. I don't need to squeeze myself into an awful suit just so I can pretend to be James Bond when I wouldn't be fooling anyone."

She nodded slowly, though she looked skeptical. "You don't have a suit, do you?" she asked after a long moment.

Mark's cheeks heated up. "Hey," he said. "I totally have a suit."

The girl leaned closer and smiled. "Is it the one you wore to your bar mitzvah?"

" _No_ ," Mark said. "Who _are_ you?"

She held out one elegantly manicured hand and said, "Eduarda Saverin. Nice to meet you...?"

"Mark," he said, taking her hand in as brief a shake as he could. "Zuckerberg."

"Mark," she said, rolling the r a little more than was necessary. Mark found it weirdly attractive, but tried not to show it. "So, Mark, are you in AEPi? I haven't seen you at one of these things before."

"I'm pledging," Mark said. "This is the only frat lame enough to take me." He tried to sound light and joking, the way Dustin could, but he end up just sounding really awful and bitter. He winced and forced a smile.

But Eduarda didn't smile back. "Oh, don't say that," she said softly, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Besides, if you weren't pledging AEPi, we wouldn't have met."

He looked at her hand for a moment, then back up at her. "Is this some sort of joke?" he demanded. "Some sort of pledge prank?"

Eduarda yanked her hand back as though she had been burned. "Um," she said, frowning at him. "What? I don't understand."

"Girls don't like me," Mark said bluntly. "Especially not hot girls."

"I – what? You think I'm hot?" Eduarda asked, blinking rapidly. "I mean – I just came over to talk to you."

"Of course you're hot," Mark said with a frown. "Do you really not know that?"

"I don't, um." Eduarda fanned herself, looking embarrassed. "Can I have some of your drink?"

Mark handed it over without even thinking about it. Eduarda downed the whole thing in one gulp. She adjusted the strap of her dress and tossed the empty plastic glass toward the trash. "God, I need to get outside," she muttered, and she started for the door.

"Wait, you –" Mark said, not sure what he was about to say. She glanced back at him, mouth turned down unhappily. "I, uh, you're not wearing a coat."

"I need to get outside," she repeated, and she walked out the doors.

Mark followed her without really knowing why. She rubbed her arms, her breath making small clouds as she glared out over the grounds. "I'm – I'm sorry?" Mark said hesitantly, because Chris would have wanted him to say that. He tried to think of what he'd seen people do in movies and takes off his sweatshirt. "Here."

Eduarda turned and looked at him. After a moment, she snatched the hoodie out of his hand and wraps it around her shoulders. "Thank you. And you don't need to apologize, I just – I've had a bad day."

Mark moved to stand next to her. "I really hate these parties," he said. "And they told me there might be pranks."

"And 'hot girls' don't come over to talk to you," she said, mouth quirking up in a smile. "Sorry to ruin your streak."

"Are you sure someone didn't put you up to this?" Mark asked suspiciously. "You aren't supposed to get me drunk and naked and then, I don't know, post pictures of it all over campus?"

Eduarda laughed. "Are you – do people hate you that much?" she asked. "What on earth could you have done to them to make them do _that_?"

Mark shrugged. "Any number of things," he admitted. "I'm not very tactful, as you may have noticed."

She smiled at that, and Mark's stomach twisted hard. He swallowed and looked away from her face. He rarely liked anyone upon first meeting them, but there was something about Eduarda that he found intriguing. She had come to him, didn't seem to know how unbelievably hot she was, and was kind of awkward, like Mark. She was a hot girl, though, so she probably didn't have to worry about that much.

"Why _did_ you come to talk to me?" he asked her suddenly, curiosity getting the better of the Randi-voice inside his head screaming at him to make better small talk.

"Oh, I –" Eduarda shook her head. "You're wearing shorts. And someone told me you did something interesting with – mp3 tech?"

Mark eyed her, suspicions rising again. "What did they say?"

"Just that you made some crazy program that Microsoft tried to buy." Eduarda smiled hesitantly, but the smile slid off her face at the look on Mark's face. "Mark?"

"I have to go," he said, turning back toward the door. "Homework to do."

"I have your coat!" she protested.

"Keep it," he said, and he escaped indoors. He seized Chris from the catering table and snagged Dustin off the dance floor, walking as quickly as he could.

"What the hell is going on?" Chris hissed in Mark's ear as he dragged them towards the door. "And where did your jacket go?"

"Never mind, can we just get out of here, please?" Mark said grumpily, and he stalked off towards the dorm.

"So what the hell is going on?" Chris asked when they got back to the room. Dustin was undoing his tie and muttering under his breath. "Mark?"

"Did you see the girl that was talking to me?" asked Mark, pacing. "She has to be some kind of prank – some pledge thing. Someone told her about Synapse."

"Um," Dustin said. "What?"

"That girl that was talking to me!" Mark said. "She's a set up."

"A girl _talked_ to you?" demanded Dustin. "Willingly?"

"This is my point," Mark said.

"And so you dragged us out of there because you thought she was a prank?" asked Chris hesitantly. Mark glared at him. Chris's expression lightened suddenly. "Ah."

"Ah?" Dustin said, looking from Chris to Mark. "What does -- _oh_."

"Shut up," Mark said preemptively.

"You _liked_ her," Dustin said gleefully. "Another human being and you _liked_ her!"

"No," Mark said grumpily. "I didn't like her. There's – she's a _prank_ , they must have told her all about me."

"Are you sure she was a prank?" Chris asked gently, sitting down on their disgusting couch.

"You don't get it," Mark said furiously, glaring at him. "She had to be. There's no other explanation."

"Sure," agreed Dustin cheerfully. "Aww, this was totally worth leaving the party for!" He kissed Mark on the cheek even though Mark tried to duck away and then headed for his bedroom. "You should call her!"

"No!" Mark said, and he stomped into his own bedroom.

 

 

Three days later, Mark came back from class and found Eduarda sitting on the couch in the suite. She smiled hesitantly at him and said, "Hi Mark."

Chris looked up and said, "Mark, Eduarda dropped by to return your sweatshirt." He raised his eyebrows. "Isn't that nice of her?"

Mark said, "Yeah, sure," and grabbed Chris's arm. Chris let Mark drag him into the bedroom and smirked when Mark slammed the door shut.

"She seems nice," Chris said. "And you're right, she's really pretty."

"Why don't you date her, then?" snapped Mark. "Come on, why would a girl like that talk to me?"

"I don't know," Chris said, "but she did." He elbowed Mark gently. "And you gave her your jacket."

"It was cold outside," Mark said defensively. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do?"

"Yes," Chris said fondly. "You know what you're _not_ supposed to do? Hide in your room when the girl you like –"

"I don't even _know_ her," Mark grumbled.

"While the girl you _like_ ," Chris repeated, grinning, "is sitting on your couch. Go talk to her." He shoved Mark through the door and shut it behind him. Mark pounded on the door, then gave up and turned to face Eduarda.

She was still sitting on the couch, though she looked a little confused. "Should I come back at a different time?" she asked.

"No, this is fine." He hesitated, then awkwardly leaned against the wall. "How did you find me?"

To his surprise, she turned slightly red. "I, um, asked about you and found out where you lived."

"Oh," Mark said. "You didn't need to."

"But I had your sweatshirt," she said, holding it out as proof. It was folded more neatly than any of Mark's other clothing. "And I wanted to apologize for being kind of weird when we met."

"You want to – apologize?" Mark asked in disbelief. "What?"

"Yes," Eduarda said. "I must have offended you –"

"No," Mark said, frowning. "What? You didn't – you're a _prank_."

"I really don't understand what you mean by that," Eduarda said, scowling a little. "If you don't want me to talk to you –"

"I just don't understand _why_ you're talking to me," Mark said.

They glared at each other for a moment. Then Eduarda said, "Fine!" and threw the sweatshirt at Mark before stalking towards the door.

"I don't," Mark said as she reached for the handle. "I mean. I don't know how this works."

"It's called being friendly," Eduarda said, looking back over her shoulder at him. "Is that so hard?"

"Yeah," Mark said. To his surprise, she laughed.

"I'm getting that," she said. "I – I have a class. Is it okay if I come by sometime?"

"Uh," Mark said. He heard a thump coming from the other side of the bedroom door and knew that Chris was banging his head against the wall. "Yes. If you want."

Eduarda flashed him a small, brilliant smile, and left the dorm room. Mark stared down at the sweatshirt in his hands and hesitantly lifted it to his nose. It smelled like laundry detergent and that faint, light perfume that clung to Eduarda. He scowled and stomped into his bedroom, throwing the sweatshirt onto the laundry pile.

"She seems really lovely," said Chris, poking his head through the door adjoining their rooms. "And she's coming back?"

"Apparently," said Mark. He sat down in front of his computer and considered looking her up on CourseMatch. He was better than that, he reminded himself, and then he looked her up anyway.

From her schedule, it looked like she was a second year and an economics major, which made her interest in him even more incomprehensible. He was just a pasty psychology major freshman who had an "unhealthy fixation on computers," according to his advisor from high school. Now even more curious, Mark started poking around to see what he could dig up about her, but was only able to find out that she also spoke Portuguese and lived in Eliot.

Mark hit exit viciously and said loudly, "Why is it so hard to find out about people?"

"Aww, are you stalking her?" Chris asked, sounding fonder than he should. He was suddenly at Mark's side, trying to peer at his computer screen. "Too bad there isn't a, like, Harvard-wide facebook."

Mark went very still, eyes widening. "Say that again."

Chris looked at him and repeated, "Too bad there isn't a Harvard-wide facebook?"

"Why _isn't_ there?" Mark breathed. "Chris, that's _brilliant_!"

"What?" asked Chris, looking baffled. "Mark –"

"Go away, I have to think," Mark said, getting up and grabbing one of the whiteboards he had refused to let Dustin put up around the room. "This is going to be huge, Chris."

"Okay," Chris said in his _placating the insane_ voice. "Just remember to eat."

Mark waved vaguely at him and started scribbling, mouth pursed. He heard the door closing, but he ignored it, lost in thought.

 

 

Mark resurfaced from his preliminary planning haze the week of Thanksgiving. He had spent every spare moment outside of AEPi pledging events and class coming up with the site he was tentatively calling thefacebook. Randi came by to collect him for their flight home and stared in horror at his room.

"Mark Elliot Zuckerberg," she said. "This is _disgusting_."

"I'm on the verge of something brilliant," Mark said, waving his hands at her. "I don't have time to clean."

"God," Randi said, pinching her nose. She plucked something from his dresser. "Well, at least this is clean."

He glanced over and saw her holding the sweatshirt he had loaned Eduarda. "Put that down," he said sharply.

Randi raised her eyebrows. "Mark?"

"Put it _down_!" he said.

Randi put it back, lifting her hands. "Sorry, Mark. Touchy, touchy."

"It's – I don't want you to –" Mark shook his head. "Never mind. Let's go."

He hoisted his bag over his shoulder and headed for the door with her. When he opened the door to the suite, Eduarda was standing outside, looking like she had been about to knock. "Oh," she said when she saw Mark. "I was just – I wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving."

"Oh," Mark said. "You never came by."

"I did, a couple of times," Eduarda said with a small, sad smile. "But you were really busy and I didn't want to bother you." Her gaze shifted to Randi. "Is this –"

"Randi Zuckerberg," Randi said, sticking out her hand. "Mark's sister."

"Sister!" Eduarda said, eyes widening. "I'm – I'm, uh –"

"Eduarda," Mark supplied when it looked like she wasn't going to complete the sentence.

Eduarda laughed nervously. "Yeah. That's me. Anyway, have a good break. Do you think you – how is that project of yours?"

"It's good," said Mark. "I'm, uh, sorry that I was busy."

She smiled sweetly. "It's fine," she said. "See you when you get back?"

"Sure," Mark said, who still wasn't convinced that she was entirely sincere. Eduarda gave an awkward little wave and hurried off down the hall. She was wearing heels, Mark noticed. He tried very hard not to obviously watch her ass because Randi was, like, _right there_ , but judging by the way Randi snorted, he was unsuccessful.

"Aww," Randi cooed, ruffling Mark's hair. "That was sweet."

"Shut up," Mark grumbled, and he stalked out of the room.

Randi told everyone in their family about Mark's girlfriend, no matter how many times Mark tried to say that he barely knew Eduarda. Mark dealt with it by hiding in his old bedroom with his computer and working on thefacebook some more. It was getting to the point where Mark thought he might have to find someone to help him pay for the domain name and the server space, but he didn't know anyone with a ton of money. His parents believed in working for yourself and Chris and Dustin were both at Harvard on scholarships.

He told Randi about it and she just rolled her eyes. "Tell people just to get you money for Hanukkah," she suggested. "So it's done?"

"No, but I want to start putting it into beta-testing," Mark said. "I haven't figured it out completely yet."

"Right," Randi said. "And you're doing this so you can stalk your not-girlfriend?"

"How did you – Chris," Mark said, narrowing his eyes.

She smirked and said, "He likes me. Says we're kindred spirits."

"I am going to kick him out of my room," Mark said grumpily.

"He's the only reason you haven't died of dysentery, you can't do that," Randi said. "Look, if you really need the help, I can probably loan you a few hundred dollars. I have savings."

"I can't do that, you're about to graduate," Mark said, frowning. "I'll find something." He thought about Eduarda for a moment, remembering the business classes in her schedule, then shook his head. "And stop telling people Eduarda's my girlfriend."

"Okay, fine," Randi said, rolling his eyes. "But that's really only a matter of time."

Mark disagreed on that front, but didn't say as much because he was honestly still afraid of Randi. When they were children, she had sat on him until he gave in and he wouldn't put it past her to try it again.

They returned to Cambridge late on Sunday night. Mark crashed on his bed, too tired to look around. But when he woke up the next morning, he saw that someone had tidied up his room – and the sweatshirt he had loaned Eduarda was missing.

He looked into the living room and saw Dustin reading his textbook on the couch. "What the hell happened here?" he asked.

"You mean the room?" Dustin grinned. "Eduarda did it! She came looking for you yesterday and when she found out you weren't home yet, she volunteered to tidy up. You should marry that girl."

Mark rolled his eyes and went back into his room. There was a note sitting on his desk, right where his computer normally was.

_Sorry I missed you again. How do you live in such a messy room?_

_\- Eduarda_

He picked it up, intending to toss it into the trash, then put it back down and smoothed his fingers over it. After a second, he shook his head and moved it into one of the drawers before grabbing his computer and sitting down to code.

Instead he found himself looking up Eduarda's spring semester schedule and trying to figure out when he could go find her. She had a class at noon that was close to his one-thirty class, so he grabbed his backpack and a hoodie and headed for the door.

He lurked outside the building until he saw her leaving, looking amazing in a long black coat and boots. She saw him and said something to the pretty Asian girl she was walking with before hurrying up to him.

"Mark," she said, "do you seriously not have a coat? Or shoes?"

Mark looked down at his feet. "I'm wearing socks," he pointed out.

"There's _snow_ on the ground," she said, grinning. "I'm sorry about cleaning your room, I guess that was –"

"Why are you apologizing again?" demanded Mark impatiently. "That's not something to apologize for."

She ducked her head, still smiling. "Whatever."

"I wanted to ask you something," Mark said after a moment. "You're a business major?"

"Economics, actually," Eduarda said. "Wait, how did you –"

"CourseMatch," Mark said, waving his hand. "I'm working on this project and I was wondering if you would be interested in helping me out."

"Uh – okay," Eduarda said, looking confused. "Wait, are you the one that did CourseMatch?"

"Yeah. Do you have time to talk soon?" Mark fidgeted with the strap of his backpack, watching her face.

"Sure," Eduarda said. "Tonight? There's this restaurant in Boston I've been wanting to try."

Mark opened his mouth to respond, then closed it again. After a moment, he said, "You want to discuss it over dinner?"

"Yeah. Why, is that – I just thought it would be nice," Eduarda said, stuttering over her words.

"It – yeah," Mark said, feeling himself go hot. "Okay."

"Great!" Eduarda said cheerfully. "I'll come by your room at six!" She turned and walked off with a slight bounce in her step. Mark watched her go before remembering that he had class and hurrying into the building.

 

 

"I think I have a date tonight," Mark told Dustin and Chris when he got back.

Dustin yelped and fell off the sofa. Chris clapped his hands in excitement, then looked embarrassed. "Is it Eduarda?" he asked in a purposefully calm voice.

"Yeah," said Mark. "What do I wear?

"Oh my god," Dustin said from the floor. "This is the cutest thing I've ever seen."

"I think a button-down shirt would be a good start," Chris said, getting to his feet. "Come on, we'll find you something."

Mark felt a little like one of Arielle's dolls as Chris put different shirts on Mark, making faces and muttering under his breath. Dustin watched from his bed, grinning hugely and saying things like, "Make sure to tell her she looks nice," and "don't let her pay for dinner." Mark glared at him.

"I have seen a romantic comedy before," Mark said. "I have three sisters."

"And yet it never seems like you learned anything from them," said Chris, pulling a blue shirt out of the pile. "You can wear one of my coats. And do you have any nice trousers?"

"No," Mark said. Chris grabbed a pair of dark jeans and added it to the pile. "Chris –"

"You're lucky we're about the same size," Chris muttered, shoving the clothes into Mark's arms. "Don't spill anything on them."

"Do I have to?" grumbled Mark, but he took the pile anyway and went to change in the bathroom.

When he came back out, Dustin wolf-whistled loudly. "Damn, you clean up nice, Zuckerberg," he said. "Nice job, Chris."

"I did pretty good, didn't I," Chris said, smiling proudly. "Now Mark, _be nice_ to her. She's a very sweet girl."

Mark fidgeted with the shirt grumpily until Chris smacked his hands away. "I'll be nice."

"Let her talk about herself," Chris added, handing him a jacket. "And actually listen to what she says."

"Okay," said Mark, feeling a little overwhelmed with information. "Could you guys stop, please?"

There was a knock at the door and the three of them froze. Then Dustin leapt off the bed, shouting, "Just a minute!"

Mark grabbed Chris's arms. "What if this is a trick?" he asked desperately. He was suddenly terrified that he would somehow screw this up, that he would lose any chance of being Eduarda's friend along with any hope of dating her. He knew very well that he wasn't particularly good with other people and Eduarda never failed to throw him for a loop.

"She _cleaned your room_ ," Chris said. "If this is a prank, she's taking it kind of far. Now go talk to her." He shoved Mark out into the common area, where Eduarda was talking to Dustin.

"—didn't know you were in econ too, that's awesome!" Dustin was saying enthusiastically. "Oh, here's Mark."

Mark stepped forward to get a better look at Eduarda. She smiled nervously at him, though he couldn't see why. She looked as beautiful as ever, wearing a coat he was sure was very expensive and very fashionable and her dark hair wound up into a bun at the back of her head. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," she said breathlessly. "You look – really nice."

Mark looked down reflexively. "Thanks," he said. "So do you," he added belatedly.

She beamed at him. "We should go," she said. "We have reservations."

"Oh," Mark said, who hadn't even thought of that. "Right."

"Have fun!" Dustin said cheerfully. "Have him home before the morning! And Mark, treat her good."

"Shut up, Dustin," Mark said poisonously, glaring at him, and he herded Eduarda from the room before he could say anything more embarrassing.

"I like your roommates," Eduarda said when they were outside. "They're very nice."

"They're all right," Mark muttered. "Where is this place we're going?"

"Oh, it's on restaurant row," Eduarda said airily. "My friend Christy said it was good." She smiled at him. "I hope you like Italian."

Mark shrugged. "I like pretty much everything."

"Oh good," Eduarda said, sounding relieved. "Do you want to take the T or a cab?"

"T," said Mark, who was feeling a little overwhelmed and confused and didn't want to be in a small, enclosed space with Eduarda before he had time to figure out what the hell was going on.

They took the T in to Boston and at first it was a little awkward. Then Eduarda tentatively asked Mark about his Thanksgiving and he told her about his family, and then he remembered Dustin's advice and asked her about her break, and she admitted that her family didn't really do Thanksgiving. "We didn't move to the United States until I was eleven. My father thinks it's a pointless holiday and a sign of America's indulgence," she said, the latter part sounding as though it were a familiar, often-said phrase.

"Oh," Mark said. "But you went home?"

"No," she said, a small, twisted smile on her face. "I cleaned your dorm room."

"Why _did_ you do that?" Mark asked.

Eduarda giggled awkwardly and looked away for a moment. "I, um. Your room was just so _messy_ ," she said. "Dustin said it would be fine."

"It was surprising," Mark said. "But it's fine."

She grinned at him, then looked up. "This is our stop," she said. "Let's go."

The restaurant they went to was kind of startlingly nice, to the point where Mark was grateful that Chris had dressed him. He got the impression that he might have been turned away if he had showed up in a hoodie and sandals. The maitre'd led them to a quite private corner and lit the candle on their table, giving them both smiles. Eduarda laughed a little and hid behind her menu.

Once they had ordered, Eduarda folded her hands on the table and asked, "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I've been working on this project," Mark said, and he outlined the general idea of thefacebook. Eduarda lived up to all his expectations; she asked the right questions and seemed to immediately understand the idea.

"You should keep it exclusive at first," Eduarda said, cutting into her chicken. "It'll make people want it. Maybe invite-only for a while. Or only Harvard. It's like rushing."

"Yes," Mark said. "Yes, that's great." He grinned at her, unable to help himself. "It's better than dating sites, because there is no ulterior motive. It's just about connecting with your friends, sharing your life online. People come to CourseMatch because they want to know about people they've only just met."

Eduarda nodded. "So what do you need me for?" she asked after a moment. "I'm not a programmer."

"But you're an economics major," Mark said. "I was hoping – would you help me out with it?"

She stared at him. "You mean," she said slowly, "as CFO?"

Mark shrugged. "Sure."

"I don't know _anything_ about being CFO," she said blankly. "I'm only in my second year, Mark."

"It's not like _I_ know anything," Mark said. "I need startup capital and I need someone to help me find investors."

"Oh, well, I can provide capital," she said. "I've made some money in investments. And I guess I can help you find new investors, but I'm only just learning about business." She suddenly looked upset. "I'm not particularly good at it, or so I'm told."

"What?" Mark asked. She shook her head.

"Nothing, it's not important." Eduarda smiled with force cheer. "How much do you need?"

They took a cab back to Cambridge, Mark with a new check in his pocket and Eduarda with a small smile on her face. "You really want me to help with finding investors?" she asked Mark quietly.

"Once we get going, yeah," Mark said. "I am told that I am not very good with people."

"I think you're doing just fine," Eduarda said, scooting a little closer to him. He looked at her and she smiled wider.

"Thanks," he managed, and he practically leapt out of the cab when they pulled up in front of campus. "I should go buy the domain name," he said when Eduarda slid out after paying the driver. "It'll be ready in a month or so."

"Yeah?" she asked, fidgeting with her coat. "That's good." She looked at him. "Mark?"

"What?" he asked, itching to get back to his room so he could change back into sweats.

She darted in and kissed him, her lips just brushing the corner of his mouth. "Thank you," she said, breath brushing his cheek. "For asking me."

He stared at her as she flushed slowly redder, and then he said, "Thank you for agreeing," and awkwardly squeezed her shoulder. "See you later?"

"Sure," she said.

"Bye, Warda," he said, the nickname slipping off his tongue before he could stop himself, and she grinned at him before ducking away, walking quickly in the direction of Eliot House. Mark touched the spot where she had kissed him and watched her go.

 

 

He bought the domain name and somehow convinced Dustin into helping him to put the finishing touches on the site. By the time Valentine's Day rolled around, the site was just about ready to go live.

In the meantime, Eduarda had taken to hanging out in the dorm. She made no further attempts to kiss him and in fact mostly ignored Mark in favor of talking politics with Chris or economics with Dustin. In all fairness, Mark was usually fairly absorbed in his work, so he didn't mind. And it was nice having her around. She was good company.

But then on Valentine's Day, something in her seemed to snap. She stalked into the room, looking annoyed, past Chris and Dustin, and into Mark's room. She kicked the door shut behind her and crossed her arms.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked.

"What?" Mark asked. "No."

"Are you gay?" When he shook his head, she dropped her hands to her side. "Mark, if you don't like me you can just say so. I can handle it." Her voice hitched as she spoke, giving lie to her words.

"What makes you think I don't like you?" he asked, scooting his chair back.

"I _kissed_ you and you haven't even –" Eduarda shook her head. "I can't – I like you a _lot_ , Mark. I just want to – if you don't like me, tell me now so I can get over it and go back to just being your friend."

Mark bit his lip, then gestured to her. "Come look at this."

Looking wary, she came over to his side and watched as he opened up thefacebook. "I'm finishing it up," he explained, going to the sample profile page. "This is what I added today."

"Relationship status," she read. She looked at him. "That looks good."

"The site is ready to go live," Mark said. He went to his profile and clicked on edit. "And once it does, I can always change my status."

"You're being unnecessarily cryptic," Eduarda said grumpily.

"I like you," Mark said bluntly, turning to look at her. "I just don't want to mess this up."

"Then you should kiss me," Eduarda said, voice soft and her eyes huge. "If, I mean, if you want to."

Mark kissed her.

Eduarda gasped against his mouth and practically fell into his lap, her fingers grabbing handfuls of Mark's shirt. She was shaking a little and Mark had to pull back to ask, "Have you done this before?"

She shook her head and said, "I've been kissed once or twice, but – it was a while ago," and she blushed. Mark didn't know what to say to that, so he kissed her again and let her do what she wanted. She carded her fingers through his hair and balanced herself on his lap, her hips moving in tiny unconscious movements.

She was unexpectedly noisy when he managed to get one hand under her shirt, breaking away to moan his name. He ran his fingers experimentally along the curve of her breast and she arched, gasping. "Do that again," she said, and he did. She seized his other hand in hers and guided it up her skirt and between her thighs.

"Uh," Mark said, nonplussed, and she pressed his hand up against her cunt. "Warda –"

She jerked at that and said breathlessly, "I like it when you call me that." Eduarda moved against his hand, and then groaned loudly when Mark tentatively slipped his finger inside her underwear.

Mark had only done this once before, after senior prom. It had been excruciatingly awkward and he had never spoken to the girl again, but this time it was somehow much better. Eduarda seemed really into it, for one thing, making these high breathy noises as he glided a tentative finger against her folds.

"I've been thinking about this," she said. Her thighs were shaking from exertion, and Mark briefly thought about trying to move her to the bed, but then her knee rubbed against his crotch and he lost his train of thought. "I thought you didn't even _notice_ , I've been throwing myself at you –"

"I thought you were a prank," Mark said defensively and she hiccupped a little laugh that turned into a sigh as he pressed the tip of his middle finger inside her. Mark bit his lip hard, trying not to think how she would feel around him, and pressed his thumb up, trying to find the spot he knew was there.

He knew he found it when she let out a small shriek and clenched around his finger, shaking. He removed his hand from under her skirt and looked at his damp fingers contemplatively before licking them clean. Eduarda said, "Oh, _fuck_ ," and kissed him, sliding one hesitant hand into the waistband of his sweatpants. Mark came almost as soon as she touched him, and he went red when she grinned smugly at him.

"I thought about it too," Mark admitted, and she laughed, tipping her head forward to rest in the hollow of his neck. "So you'll be my girlfriend?"

"I don't put out for just anyone," Eduarda said into his neck. "Or anyone, period."  
  
Mark snorted and said, "Okay," and leaned them back in his seat so he could click on _save_.

Eduarda moved to get a better look at the screen and read, "In a relationship with Eduarda Saverin." She looked down at Mark, smirking, and said, "You have no idea what this will mean to my mother. She was convinced I was going to die alone."

"You're twenty years old," Mark said blankly.

"I know," she said cheerfully, climbing off him to get her phone. "I'm going to email that link around to my sorority, if that's all right."

"That's great," said Mark, who had been trying to figure out a polite way of asking her to do that. She beamed at him and kissed him.

"Dating the CEO," she murmured to herself as she took his laptop and began typing. "That's pretty awesome."

"You should be on the masthead," he said. "Unofficially CFO and mascot."

She gave him a look. "Mascot?"

"Okay," he said, "The Secret Weapon."

"I thought that was Chris," she said, finishing typing with a flourish and a smile. "There we go." She set his laptop back on his desk, then grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him to his bed. "Now you need to sleep," she said by way of explanation when he glared at her. "Come on, Mark."

"Warda," he complained, but then she lay down on his bed, smiling at him, and he had to climb in beside her. She wrapped around him like an octopus and didn't let go.

 

 

Dating Eduarda turned out to be extremely low-key. She spent a lot of time studying in his room and she let him spend his time coding, but every now and then she would drag him into his room and lock the door, which Dustin seemed to find hilarious. They still hadn't had proper sex, but Mark found that he didn't mind. It was enough to have Eduarda pressing him into his mattress, looking less self-conscious than she usually did and like she wanted to eat Mark.

She also had good ideas about what to do with thefacebook, like how to get new users, and by the time Spring Break rolled around, they had expanded to most of the other colleges in Boston. Mark was packing to leave for home when Eduarda came into his room, looking very pleased, and announced that the Globe had asked for an interview.

"Chris just told me," she said, kissing his cheek. "Phone interview, it'll be easy. Just, you know, be polite."

"Okay," Mark said. He looked at her. "Are you going home?"

"For break?" Eduarda asked in surprise. "No."

"Pack a bag," Mark said. "You can come home with me."

Eduarda stared at him. "What?"

"Come home with me," Mark repeated. Eduarda's eyes were looking suspiciously shiny, so he hurried to say, "It's entirely selfish, I want you around for –" but she cut him off by kissing him firmly on the mouth.

"Okay," she said when she pulled back. "Let me go pack."

Mark nodded and felt weirdly – pleased as she bounded out of the room in excitement. He busied himself with shoving some of his computer cords into his suitcase and tried not to think too hard about how much he needed her to be happy.

Predictably, Mark's mother absolutely loved Eduarda and grilled her about Mark every chance she got. Mark retaliated by keeping Eduarda out of his mother's company as much as possible. "But I _like_ ," your mom," Eduarda protested when Mark took them out in his car to escape his mother's relentless questioning.

"Yeah," muttered Mark.

His mom had also taken the precaution of putting Eduarda in Randi's room, since Randi had gone on some Habitat for Humanity trip for break, but Eduarda just came into Mark's room after everyone else was asleep and curled up next to him, her wet hair leaving a damp spot on his sleep shirt.

"I'm glad you brought me here," she told him quietly before kissing him gently. Mark wrapped his arm around her waist and wondered how on earth he had managed to trick her into liking him.

He had the interview with the Globe on Thursday, and she sat next to him while he patiently answered questions about thefacebook. Then the interviewer asked, "And how does your girlfriend feel about the amount of work you do for thefacebook?"

Mark frowned, then remembered that his profile showed him as being in a relationship. "She actually helps out a lot with funding and investors," he said, looking over at her. "Without her, there would be no site. I don't know what I would have done without her. As soon as we're a proper company, I think she'd make a great CFO."

Eduarda's eyes went huge and she turned away from him, her hand covering her mouth. Mark reached out to squeeze her shoulder and she grabbed his hand. The interviewer said something else and Mark replied somewhat at random, wondering if he had done something wrong.

The moment he hung up, though, Eduarda threw herself at him and said, "Thank you," in his ear and, "You'll have no idea what this will mean to my father."

Mark, who had gathered that Eduarda's father was not exactly the most encouraging person in the world, didn't say that he didn't give a fuck what her father thought. Instead he just said, "I know," and held her until she pulled away, wiping at her eyes discreetly.

"I think we should start thinking about expanding," Eduarda said, beaming at him. "Maybe give it a few weeks or so to gain more momentum, but then we can expand it to the other Ivies. And Stanford."

"Stanford?" Mark asked, rubbing his thumb along her cheek.

She smiled softly and said, "They won't know what to do with you in Palo Alto."

"Us," Mark corrected. "Right?"

Eduarda looked conflicted for a moment; then she nodded. "If you want. I'm not sure that I really know what I'm doing –"

"Neither do I," Mark said. "But you're better at talking to people than I am."

Eduarda rolled her eyes and said, "Sure, okay."

"Warda," Mark said, then he shook his head. "This is our thing now. I want you to be a part of it."

"Is it just because I'm your girlfriend?" asked Eduarda suspiciously. "Because if that's why –"

"I trust you," said Mark.

Eduarda reached down and laced their fingers together. "Okay," she said, and she smiled.

 

 

**Facebook Secures Angel Investment**

_Rising social networking site Facebook received an angel investment of $500 thousand dollars from Pay-Pal co-founder Peter Thiel. Credit is being given to Sean Parker, an old associate of Thiel, but also to Eduarda Saverin, the twenty-one year old Harvard business student who insiders say has been serving as Facebook's unofficial CFO since its creation. Facebook's founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has publicly said that without Saverin, there would be no site._

_Facebook has been growing rapidly..._

Mark handed the paper back to Chris, who beamed at him and said, "Congratulations, Mark," before going off to have some of the celebratory champagne Sean had bought for them. Chris didn't particularly like Sean, but he wasn't above sharing in the wealth.

Mark didn't really like Sean all that much either – he stared at Eduarda a lot, not that Mark could blame him – but he couldn't deny that Sean was useful. He wasn't sure that they would have secured the investment without him – but he also knew that Thiel had liked Eduarda.

He touched the part where the article said, _unofficial CFO_ then yelled, "Warda!"

She came over, looking slightly flushed from alcohol. "Mark," she said gently, leaning down to press a light kiss to his cheek. "Come on. This is supposed to be a party."

"I think it should be official," said Mark. "Your position in this company."

"Mark –" Eduarda started, looking pained.

"We have advisors, Warda," Mark said. "We have people to keep us from making mistakes. And you've been doing good work."

"Thanks," Eduarda muttered. "But I have school and I _need_ to finish –"

Mark grabbed her hands before she could move away. "You can transfer out here. I'm sure Stanford would take you."

"My father –"

"Fuck your father," Mark said sharply.

Eduarda laughed nervously. "Mark," she sighed. "I – this is not that easy."

"I don't see why not," Mark said. He hesitated, then said, "Please."

Eduarda wobbled a little, then sank to the ground, letting her legs stretch out in front of her. For once, she was wearing jeans rather than dress clothes, and she looked beautifully casual and relaxed. It was a good look for her. "I'll think about it."

"Warda, I – I did this for you," Mark said. "I don't want to do this without you."

Eduarda smiled up at him fondly and said, "I love you too."

Mark blinked, startled. Eduarda's eyes had drifted shut – she must had had more drinks than he realized. He slid to his knees next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist, helping her to her feet. She pressed her face into his neck and murmured, "I don't wanna go back to Cambridge."

He stumbled a little – Eduarda was about an inch taller than him in shoes – but managed to get her mostly upright without any problems. He took Eduarda to the room that was technically his although everyone referred to it as "Mom and Dad's room." He stroked her hair back over her cheek and sighed before climbing into bed next to her and curling around her.

In the morning, Mark woke up to an empty bed. He went looking for Eduarda and found her in the kitchen, looking incredibly disgruntled and tired. "Hi," he said.

"Next time there's a party, remind me that I don't trust Sean," Eduarda said grumpily. "Hi." She kissed him gently – she tasted like toothepaste – and smiled. "I've had some time to think about what you said."

"She was praying to the porcelain god all morning," said intern Ashleigh, who looked similarly tired and was wearing what looked like Dustin's Harvard sweatshirt. "It was gross."

"Yeah," agreed Eduarda emphatically. Mark wrapped an arm around her and she leaned into him. "I'm going to talk to my dad."

"Oh," Mark said. "You don't have to."

"I want to," she said quietly, looking up at him. "If you want my help, then – this is our thing."

"You guys are gross," Ashleigh muttered when Mark kissed Eduarda. "She's been puking all morning!"

Mark didn't care. Eduarda clung to him, laughing giddily against his mouth, and she beamed at him when he pulled back. "I want to do this, Mark. I like working for Facebook and – well. You."

"I'm leaving," Ashleigh announced and she left, muttering under her breath.

Eduarda had a guilty expression on her face until Mark squeezed her hip gently. Then she melted against him and said, "I'll start looking into transferring."

"I love you," Mark said. Eduarda started and then blushed.

"Mark, I – I love you too," Eduarda said. "I know I said it when I was, um, drunk, but I meant it. I promise."

"I know," Mark said, and he sat down next to her so she could make him eat breakfast.


End file.
